(Posted November 21, 2004)

Juniata 50, Bethany 46

Erie, Pa. ? The Juniata College women?s basketball overcame a seven-point second-half deficit to claim its first win of the season 50-46 over Bethany College in the consolation game of the Penn State-Behrend Tournament Sunday afternoon.

Kristen Kirk (Newport/Newport) scored a game-high 17 points to help the Eagles place third at the tournament.

Trailing 35-28 with 15:37 left in the game, Juniata put together a 13-3 run to take a 41-38 lead with 6:55 left in the game. Freshman Ali Meckey (Bishop Carroll/Ebensburg) scored 10 of her 21 points during the run which put Juniata up by three. The Eagles did not relinquish that lead the rest of the way. A basket by Kate Resanovich and a free throw from Lisa Mitchell cut the lead to two with 1:49 remaining in the game. Juniata answered with a bucket from Katie O?Brien (South Western/Hanover) to bring the lead back to four, and Juniata hit its free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

The second-half comeback was made possible when the Eagles fought back from an 11-point deficit in the first 20 minutes. Juniata started the game ice cold as they had just two points with 11:20 left in the first half, allowing Bethany to roll out to a comfortable 13-2 edge.


The margin stayed around 10 points until the final four minutes when the Eagles went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to two with 15 seconds left in the half. Nicole Vlajkovich put in a lay-up for Bethany as time expired in the first half, but Juniata had climbed back into the game as they trailed by just five at halftime.

O?Brien also finished in double figures for Juniata s she scored 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Meckey finished with a career-high 12 points. Mindy Werner (West York/York) passed out four assists to lead Juniata.

Courtney Irwin was the high scorer for Bethany as she finished with 16 points. Katie Resanovich contributed 11 points in the game. Vlajokich led all players with 16 rebounds, while Renee Shehady recorded four assists.

Juniata will return to action on Tuesday as the Eagles host Penn State-Altoona.

JUNIATA (50): Meckey 4 2-2 12, Walsh 0 0-1 0, Kirk 7 1-2 17, Winemiller 2 2-5 6, O?Brien 7 0-1 14, Callas 0 0-0 0, Werner 0 0-0 0, Killen 0 0-0 0, Snoby 0 0-0 0. Totals ? 20 6-13 50

BETHANY (46): Babik 1 0-0 3, Vlajkovich 2 0-1 4, Shehady 2 0-1 4, Resanovich 5 1-2 11, Irwin 7 2-3 16, Scarsella 0 0-0 0, DeStefano 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 3 2-4 8. Totals ? 20 5-11 46

Halftime: Bethany 27-22. 3-point goals: Juniata 4 (Meckey 2, Kirk 2); Bethany 1 (Babik). Assists: Juniata 11 (Werner 4); Bethany 12 (Shehady 4). Rebounds: Juniata 28 (O?Brien 7); Bethany 51 (Vlajkovich 16).


Records: Juniata (1-1); Bethany (0-2)

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